‘This is an extremely important judgment from the Court of Appeal on the reach of the ECHR into war zones, in this case Iraq. The CA, with the only judgment given by Lloyd Jones LJ, disagreed in part with Leggatt J.’

‘Eleven activists who took part in G20 protests seven years ago have received more than £60,000 in damages from the City of London police for false imprisonment, assault and breaches of the Human Rights Act. The case has raised serious questions about who owns personal data collected by police.’

‘The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has considered a file of evidence from the Metropolitan Police relating to one suspect in connection with allegations made concerning the movement and alleged ill treatment of Abdel Hakim Belhadj and his wife, Fatima Boudchar, and Sami Al Saadi and his wife and children from countries in South East Asia to Libya in 2004.’

‘In the first judgment of its kind since the suspension of the Detained Fast Track on 2 July 2015, the High Court struck down the Home Secretary’s refusal and certification of an asylum claim which was made in the structurally unfair and unjust Detained Fast Track (DFT) and ordered the Home Secretary to remake the decision afresh without regard to material obtained in the unfair process. The case is R (on the application of Zafar) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 1217 (Admin).’

‘Claiming that he had been unlawfully detained, the claimant sought, through the route of judicial review, immediate release from detention, determination of the defendant’s liability for his false imprisonment and resolution as to whether, if false imprisonment was established, damages should be compensatory or nominal. The defendant had detained the claimant under immigration powers for periods totalling seven years and two months. The judge held that the claimant had been unlawfully detained between 13 July and 10 December 2013 and was entitled to more than nominal damages for false imprisonment, to be assessed on a compensatory basis. The claimant failed in his public law claim in relation to accommodation, deportation and removal. An issue arose as to costs. The defendant contended, inter alia, that as the claimant had succeeded on only one issue out of four he was entitled to only 25% of his costs.’

‘A High Court judge has awarded the family member of an EU national a total of £136,048 in damages. The award consists of £76,578 for false imprisonment and £59,470 for breach of EU law. The Home Office is also criticised for having made “inaccurate and misleading” submissions to previous judges on multiple occasions and the damages include not just compensatory damages for lost earnings and distress but also special damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages.’

‘The “slave” daughter of the Maoist cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan has revealed her identity for the first time as her father was jailed for 23 years for her imprisonment and repeated sex attacks on other followers.’

‘In a ruling that has been described as “a blow for civil liberties”, appeal judges have effectively limited legally aided claims against the police to situations where claimants can show there was dishonesty.’

‘A rape victim falsely accused of lying by detectives has won £20,000 in damages after suing police under the Human Rights Act. The woman, who cannot be named, was 17 when a man raped her in Winchester in April 2012 after a night out with friends. Her mother reported the attack hours later and the victim told officers her T-shirt may contain her attacker’s DNA.’